The 76th Hunger Games
by LilsNightlock
Summary: This is if the third Quarter Quell hadn't been what it was, and the rebellion was still happening, even though the Hunger Games were still running. New characters, new adventures... what will happen in the 76th Hunger Games?


**The Hunger Games**

The resounding thumps echo around the small clearing as my heart rate becomes faster and faster. They've packed us in really tightly this time - just my luck. It's going to make the bloodbath harder to escape from. I glance over at Oliver Cox, who is my fellow District 11 companion, and smile slightly, as if to say, 'We can do this.' He smiles back, again only ever so slightly, and we both give a start as a huge explosion pierces the tense atmosphere. Someone stepped off the plates early. My hearing goes dull for a moment, but I can still hear the thumps of the countdown, even though smoke has drifted in the way of the countdown clock - and Oliver. This is going to make the bloodbath even more difficult to survive, but might help slightly as well.  
I go over everything in the last few seconds. Oliver and I can run. Fast. We're short, nimble, and are able to hide and climb easily. I can shoot, and Oliver is great at swordplay. To tell the truth, I reckon we're a pretty good team this year. I'll have to try and find him when I get the chance.  
I begin to look around the tributes and analyse those I know the names and skills of, but the dong goes for the start and I don't have time. I curse quietly under my breath, realising that I've wasted a bit of valuable time, but head straight into the bloodbath, hoping that the smoke shields me slightly. I grab the first thing that appears at my feet. A bow! Perfect!  
I stumble to where I hope is the edge of the clearing, and the smoke dissipates into the air as I do so. Someone comes at me from the left, clearly not looking where they're going, running fast, and crashes straight into me. We fall to the ground and I look up, recognising the face of Lauren Boal from District 12. I like her - my friend from the training centre. 'Together?' I whisper, and she nods slightly. We take off into the woods at full speed, and don't stop until we reach a quiet, faraway spot on the top of a hill, looking out upon a field of dead shrubs.  
'You okay?' asks Lauren, in a foreign accent. I nod, and she swings a rucksack off her back that I didn't notice before. 'Think there'll be anything useful in here?'  
'Possibly,' I say as she unzips the rucksack hopefully. 'You never know with the rucksacks. From years of watching I know that they always put something different into them.' Lauren agrees and turns the rucksack over to inspect the contents.  
'Arrows,' she says, 'useful for you but not for me. There's a bit of food here too, and-'  
She's cut short by the boom of the cannons that symbolise deaths. We count in our heads, expecting there to be quite a few, but to our complete and utter surprise there are only three of them. We stare at each other disbelievingly. 'There have never been so few.' I remark, breaking the bewildered silence. 'I wonder who they were?'  
'I guess we'll find out tonight.' Neither of us likes to dwell on the fact that we might not both be here tonight, so we go quiet again after that, and Lauren packs the materials back into the rucksack. 'We better get going. Find some water.'  
I nod, wondering if we'll be able to find Oliver. I wonder how close to the male tribute from District 12 Lauren is? I recall his name being Lucas. Lucas Dalton. I expect she's hoping that he's still alive as well. We begin to trek through the woods, keeping to the edge of the hill, treading carefully so as not to make too much noise. Suddenly behind us I hear the crack of a branch underfoot, and I'm sure Lauren heard it too. 'Mia,' she hisses, confirming my suspicion.  
'Don't stop,' I say, unable to keep myself from raising my voice, 'Run!'  
For the second time today we sprint through the undergrowth, slapping away branches and all sorts. I can hear the enemies behind us, keeping good speed. Suddenly Lauren shoots up a tree in front of us, and I follow. We keep climbing and don't look down until we are very high up, right at the very tip of the tree, and the whole time I'm praying that I don't feel anyone catch my foot from underneath.  
Finally I look down below. Two tributes are standing on the floor, seemingly cheering somebody on. I recognise Will from 4. A Career. So why is Kieran from 5 with him? I move my vision away from them - they aren't going to do anything. My eyes come to rest on Edward, a tribute from District 10, scrambling quickly and carelessly up the tree. What a strange alliance. 'He's coming for us,' mutters Lauren, and I look over at her. She's trembling slightly but holding well and doesn't seem particularly worried, even if frightened. 'I don't think he's going to make it.'  
'Still,' I say, and carefully draw my bow from behind me so that I don't fall. I load up an arrow. Ed's getting closer and closer. I take my aim, drawing the bowstring back, when suddenly he falls backwards. My bow jerks and I end up shooting the arrow towards the two others as Ed plummets towards the floor. It's a long way. I can hear the sickening crunch as his back connects with the ground and he's almost instantly killed. Boom. There goes another cannon.  
Lauren and I stare at each other and then move down the tree a little to a safer place, knowing that after that the others won't come up after us. 'Just leave it.' I hear one of them say, which of them I'm not entirely sure. 'There are others we can target. They're not important right now.' They move off and we both sigh with relief.  
From the top of the tree I spy a water source, which seems abandoned, and we set off towards that. After collecting water we go to find a good tree to spend the night in. It's going to be cold, since we don't have even one sleeping bag, but we'll have to bear it. We reach a good tree and begin to climb before I notice that there's someone already in it. 'Shh...' I whisper to Lauren, and we keep climbing, quiet as mice. I'm ready to attack when I realise who it is.  
'Oliver!' I cry, and he jerks around towards me, sword raised. He begins to laugh when he realises who I am. Soon Lauren reminds us to quieten down and I explain about our alliance.  
'Do you think maybe we could find Lucas soon too?' asks Lauren, as we settle onto different branches. 'I know he's still alive. I just know it. And he might have an alliance too. That means even more of us!'  
We're both up for this idea, and watch the sky expectantly for deaths before we fall asleep. There has been a meagre amount of deaths today; too little for the Capitol. No doubt the Mutts will be upon us soon.  
The deaths come in order of death rather than order of District this time. First, the boy from 3; I remember his name being Declan. He must have been the one who stepped off the plate before the start. I wonder if it was an accident, or if he had some sort of motive? Sometimes, people who know they can't survive get it over with right at the beginning. Next, the girl from 9 appears, whom I remember as Rachel, and then Gemma from 10. That's a shame, I think. I liked her. She was nice in the training centre. Finally Ed appears, and we explain to Oliver how he died.  
'The Careers chased me about for a bit,' says Oliver, after the anthem has finished. 'Almost all of them have teamed up. That Charlotte from 1, and Alex, then Abigayle and Adam from 2, and the girl from 4. I can't remember her name.'  
'Ellie.' I finish. I didn't mind her. She was the least worse of the Careers.  
'That's right.'  
We sit in silence for a while, slowly dropping off to sleep.  
It's going to be a long night.

**Pineapple**  
Pineapple brushed apart the leaves slowly and carefully, looking out over the Cornucopia. 'There's nobody there!' she hissed to her ally, who had beautiful sunset coloured hair. Katie shook her head stubbornly. 'Not going out there, Pineapple.'  
Pineapple huffed so that her fringe blew up from her forehead. She had sandy-brown hair that came down in two bunches past her shoulders. Her freckled cheeks were tanned and her hazel-blue eyes were almost always laughing. Her attire was that of that year's normal Hunger Games suit - a black jumpsuit with a hood, made out of simple and weak material. Pineapple had already ripped hers in several places - at the arm, as well as the hood after it caught on a tree branch, and down one leg, where she had a shallow cut running from near to her thigh to just above the knee. Black, sturdy boots hugged her feet, and the only thing that would determine her ally's outfit from her own, other than the gashes, was a small flower pin that the District 3 girl wore tucked into her hair. Pineapple's real name wasn't really Pineapple, of course - it was Megan.  
Katie's hair was cut to just above shoulder length and fell in a scruffy sort of bob around her neck. She was from District 5, the power district, and was clever and decisive. 'Remember what happened with Rachel, Pineapple. I'm not going in there again.'  
Pineapple watched thoughtfully as Katie worriedly twiddled a lovebird charm between her thumb and first finger. That was the token from her District, even though most types of bird were rarely seen around there. Katie's face was pale and also covered in freckles. They both recounted the day before at the bloodbath in silence:  
Katie, Pineapple and Rachel knew that they were going to go together. Rachel was a quiet girl from District 9, and the three of them had become close throughout the training sessions, as they all had the same sorts of interests and skills. When the gong went off to announce the beginning of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, it had been immediate; they all rushed together and went off to compile a supply of items and food. Unfortunately, on the way, they had encountered Charlotte, a sharply worded District 1 Career whose only aims were to kill as many people as she could. They had nothing, yet. The District 1 girl was about to chop Pineapple into small pieces when the small, nimble, blonde-haired Rachel had heroically saved Pineapple's life - by stepping right in front of her. 'Rachel!' Pineapple had screamed. But she knew that she and Katie had to go, or Rachel's sacrifice would have been for nothing. They didn't stay to see what happened next, and took off into the woods as quickly as their feet would carry them.  
'Alright.' agreed Pineapple, finally. 'We don't have to go out there.'  
Suddenly, before Pineapple's eyes, Katie turned ever whiter than usual, even with a slight pale tinge of green. 'RUN!' She screamed at the top of her voice. Pineapple whizzed around to see the District 4 tribute Will standing over her with a trident, as well as the lethal boy from 5 who sported a couple of sharp daggers. 'Kieran!' cried Katie, before they took off. 'How could you?!'  
Kieran just grinned in reply, and the four started a wild chase through the woods, sprinting as fast as they possibly could.

**Charlotte**  
Charlotte, Abbie, Ellie, Alex and Adam were trudging through the woods slowly and lazily, hoping to come across someone who they could kill. Charlotte walked as near to Adam as she could possibly get, and the others were spread out around them. Ellie was taking the lead, her golden hair glinting slightly in the sunlight. 'Shh!' She suddenly whispered, putting a hand out to stop the others. 'I can hear something.'  
They all listened hard. Sure enough, there was the crack of people running through the woods, the human gasps reaching through the trees towards them. 'They're coming this way...' muttered Alex, drawing a cutlass from his knife belt. Adam just grinned, pulling a spear out from behind him as if from nowhere.  
'Looks like this is our chance.'  
It all happened at once. Pineapple and Katie burst from the trees, their lungs screaming for air and their legs aching. They were startled, and, to say the least, displeased at running into the Careers. But they knew they had to keep going no matter what. I bet the Capitol are liking this, Pineapple thought scornfully as they rushed past.  
Adam and Alex took off after the two girls just as Will exploded from the trees, aiming a spear straight towards Katie's head. Luckily for Katie it missed as she dodged out of the way of a tree, but it flew past... And hit Ellie square in the stomach instead.  
There was a soft sound as Ellie looked down and hit the floor with a soft thump. But nobody noticed it, as all hell was unfolding in the tiny clearing at that very moment. Will quickly drew out a smaller spear and rammed it right into Abbie's throat. He then yanked the prongs back out, and Abbie began to vomit blood - so much that she began to choke on it. Meanwhile, a maniacal Kieran was busy pinning Charlotte to the floor with his knives. He took one, and traced her face, giving her one last evil smile before saying, 'I hope you enjoy this final view of the world, District 1.'  
Then, what Charlotte was least expecting happened - Kieran poked both of her eyes out with two sharp stabs of the knife. The girl screamed in pain, desperate to reach her hands up to her eyes to try and stop the torture, even though it obviously wouldn't work. But Kieran had them both pinned down so tightly that it was cutting off her blood supply. Then, in one swift motion, Kieran slit her neck and pulled her throat right out. Finally, the pain for Charlotte had ended. She was dead.  
Kieran stood, Will peering over his shoulder. 'Good work,' said Kieran, brushing his hands off as if nothing had happened. 'We need to find more of them.' They set off together into the woods.  
Losing Ed was apparently no problem at all to them.

**Lucas**  
Lucas, Liam and Naomi crept through the trees, wondering where the last three tributes had been killed. They had heard the cannons; three in quick succession... but they hadn't seen the hovercraft come to collect them. They felt safe enough knowing that they were too far away to see them, and one by one they began to relax into normal steps. What a day it had been. First, they had hidden as the Careers had ambled past, not looking particularly carefully for anyone or anything that might attack them or that they might attack. They had waited with bated breath for a while before the Careers had definitely gone, and had then gone out hunting for an hour or two. They had taken refuge to eat and make a quick fire, found water, and then began to walk again. Soon after the three cannons, four tributes had rushed past at full speed. The three in an alliance had hidden in a tree, waiting for their surroundings to become safe once more, and had then gone trekking to find a good hideout for the night. That was what they were doing now.  
Lucas was fantastic with a bow and arrow. He carried a sheath of arrows on his back and a bow over his shoulder. It was slightly different to Mia's; homemade, not Capitol-made. It was just as good though; Lucas was a master bow maker. He had golden-brown hair and dark brown eyes, as well as a sun-tanned face. His jumpsuit was relatively unscathed; just like Naomi's and Liam's. Naomi had a cut on her face from a clash with the Careers, and her long straw-brown hair was ruffled with a few twigs in it. Liam's hair was a slightly lighter brown, and he, like Lucas, also had brown eyes.  
He was from District 8, and was fast and full of tricks. Naomi, from 6, could create extraordinary traps and could throw knives quite accurately, as well as being extremely clever. They made a good team, with different skills that drew them together and made them almost invincible.  
'Okay,' said Lucas, with a relieved sigh, 'Here's a good cave.' It was at the roots of a huge tree, shadowed and hidden with leaves and vines. They settled down, setting up food they had for a meal, and the two sleeping bags that they had decided to alternate turns with. Night came suddenly, the beautiful sunset being brief - just like their lives seemed to be right now. Not beautiful, but it felt to the three of them as though they would be brief.  
The National Anthem of Panem started up, and faces shone into the sky. '3 Careers!' Gasped Naomi, peering through the vines into the night sky. 'The girl from 1, and the one from 2, and 4!'  
'Anyone else?' asked Liam, in a foreign accent. Naomi replied with a shake of her head. 'I don't think things are exciting enough for the Capitol,' mused Liam, 'so I expect we'll be seeing some mutts soon.'  
'Hopefully WE won't,' remarked Lucas, carving into his bow thoughtfully. They were all thinking about their District counter-parts, wondering where they were - none of them were dead yet. Not Liam's partner, called Hannah. Nor was Lauren. And neither was Naomi's District partner, Luke.  
They dropped off, one by one, sleeping deeply all through the night, as they were all exhausted.  
The next morning, Lucas stepped out into the watery sunlight, looking around carefully and then emerging further out to the forest. Suddenly a voice shouted from above, the one place that Lucas had forgotten to check. He darted back into the cave just before he realised who the person was. Lauren!  
He listened again, and there was another shout, Lauren's voice as clear as day. 'Lucas!' It was closer this time. Naomi raised a knife but Lucas stopped her, and the three emerged from the cave to face Lauren and Mia, as well as Oliver just climbing down the tree. A little further above they could see the girl from 7, Esme, and to Liam's immense relief... Hannah!  
Esme's straight hair shone in the sunlight as she dropped to the floor, and Hannah's bird nest hair rested like a cloud around her shoulders as it always had done. The groups stood grinning at each other, inspecting the other's injuries for a minute or two, and then there was an outbreak of curious questions as a huge sense of relief for everyone erupted into the morning air.  
**  
Tom, Josh and Luke  
**Tom peered out into the small clearing, his face hidden by the shadows. He was the only one who could bear to watch the scene that was unfolding before the three. Alex, the tribute from 1, seemed to have gone absolutely mad, and was ripping out Adam from 2's guts, which spilled across the floor in a slimy, bloody mess. Alex's hands were coated with gloves of blood as he smashed Adam's head in with a rock and the took the brain out, storing it carefully in his jumpsuit pocket.  
Cooool, thought Tom, as he popped his head back in. The cannon went off as he said, '2's dead. Alex killed him. Seems to have gone mad. Stole his brain too! That was cool.'  
Josh, from District 9, rolled his intelligent eyes. 'How long have you had this obsession with gore again?'  
'Oh, I dunno.' said Tom, casually sharpening an axe. 'Forever I guess.'  
Josh rolled his eyes again and stuck his pitchfork into the ground. Being from the farming district, Josh had found a way of venting his anger (when he got angry) by using farming tools like spades and pitchforks as weapons. He had become particularly fond of the pitchfork and its 3 points that were sort of like spear-heads. He had been hoping to get a trident, if possible, but that darn District 4 Will had comprehensibly gotten there first.  
Luke, with his dark brown eyes and hair, sat in silence, a long pipe resting on his knee. It was all that was left, but was good for knocking people out and smashing their heads in. Or so that's what Luke thought. He hadn't actually had the chance to test it yet. He wondered for the tenth time that day whether Naomi was safe or not, but was quite calm with the knowledge that she wasn't dead.  
The three seemed pretty calm, even with the knowledge that there was a completely insane person raving about just outside their hideout. They were like this because they knew that they could kill him if he came after them. 'Should we just get it over with?' asked Josh with a sigh, bowing his head to look back at the pitchfork after listening to the insane muttering coming from outside.  
'Please do.' said Luke. 'I'm not sure I like it much. Who wants the honour?'  
'Oooh! Mee!' replied Tom, in an excited voice. Before either of the other two could say anything, he leapt out into the clearing. They could hear him say, 'Oi! Over here, Alex-o!' before the sickening crunch of an axe in the back of someone's skull reverberated through the small clearing. Tom burst back through the foliage, grinning and laughing a little insanely.  
'Oh no, you haven't caught it too, have you?' groaned Josh, and Tom stopped momentarily.  
'Sorry,' he replied, still grinning, 'but that was so fun!'  
This time as well as Josh rolling his eyes once more, Luke shook his head in mock despair.  
'And look!' Added Tom, shoving his hand towards their faces. 'I got the brain that he stole from Adam as well!'

**Kieran**  
Kieran and Will were asleep near the Cornucopia. They both knew that they were now the most powerful alliance in the game - or at least thought so. That evening they had watched as Adam from 2 and Alex from 1's names and photos had appeared in the sky. Silently they had wondered how they had died and who had killed them. Little did they know that one had in fact killed the other.  
Slowly, something small and scuttling had appeared from inside the Cornucopia. It was absolutely tiny. A little thing not dissimilar to a scorpion. It had 8 legs, and an exoskeleton covering its body. At its back end it had a huge (in comparison to the body) pincer rather than a sting, and at the front it sported 2 small daggers instead of claws.  
It was tiny enough to be able to scuttle over Will's arm and chest without waking him up, almost invisible on the black jumpsuit, tiny enough to scuttle into his open mouth - tiny enough to slip down his throat and right into his stomach, where it would grow throughout the night with the help of the stomach acids that bubbled in Will's stomach. It was unfortunate for Will and Kieran that they had been near the Cornucopia, for if anyone else was nearer it would have chosen them; but unfortunately they had just chosen the wrong place to be.  
In the morning, Kieran had woken to the sounds of agonized screaming and yelling. He had looked up just in time to see a huge monster burst out from Will's stomach, a giant version of last night's tiny scorpion likeness. Without a sound, Kieran turned and ran just as the mutt swivelled towards him. The mutt was still growing, and Kieran bolted to a random place without thinking.  
Before he knew it, he was in mid-air, falling to the ground. There was a horrific crunch as Kieran hit the ground and both of his legs buckled beneath him. He yelped with pain but still made an attempt at crawling away, grabbing at the dirt ground with his hands and pulling his broken body along. Luckily for Kieran the mutt wasn't modified to survive falling off cliffs. It splatted onto the ground, and disgusting orange liquid oozed out onto the dirt. It reached Kieran, who became encased in the stuff. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything. The liquid enveloped him and he half drowned, half suffocated in the gooey hell that had become a death trap.

**Esme**  
Esme gazed at the sky in utter shock. Why was there a fireworks show going on? That was what it looked like. Her allies were doing and thinking the same. 'The rebels!' cried Oliver suddenly, his brown eyes lighting up, and his tanned, brown-haired head being illuminated by the explosions. 'The rebels must have conquered the Capitol! They've come to rescue us, I bet!'  
The whole group remembered the year before last. Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire. And Peeta Mellark. THEY had started the rebellion. The fighting had been going on for two years, and it looked like it was finally over!  
All over the arena, the remaining tributes were feeling the same way. Katie and Pineapple were being lifted into a District 13 aircraft. Josh, Tom and Luke were watching and waiting, happily congratulating each other on surviving - they too had guessed what had happened.

Years later, Esme was sat on a grassy lawn in front of a lovely house. She decided to go and have a walk through town, through the shops. On the way, she waved happily at Mia through a window. She greeted Lauren and Liam, who were both owners of a shop. She saw Naomi, Hannah, Lucas, Josh, and Luke at different places and shops throughout the town. Pineapple was somewhere on holiday and Katie was busy in her house - but she offered Esme a cupcake she had baked as she walked past. Esme accepted it gratefully. She saw Oliver walking home, who was smiling and telling her how he had just bought a great new car. And finally she saw Tom, who had just woken up, grinning and waving from the doorway of his house as he ate Gummy Bears.  
None of them ever forgot their experience in the final Hunger Games. That was how they all came to be such good friends. But they sort of didn't want to forget, either. They didn't want to forget all the poor tributes who died that year and the many before; they forgot how much they had disliked the Careers and felt terribly sorry even for them. After all, they had just been used as pieces in the Capitol's sick game. The Hunger Games were a reminder; never to let the same thing happen again.


End file.
